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. 2022 Aug 8:7:e49-e59.
doi: 10.5114/amsad/150319. eCollection 2022.

Alcohol and health. Is regular drinking of small doses of alcohol really good for your health?

Stanisław Surma  1 , Andrzej Więcek  1
Affiliations

Alcohol and health. Is regular drinking of small doses of alcohol really good for your health?

Stanisław Surma et al. Arch Med Sci Atheroscler Dis. .

Abstract

Alcohol has been drunk for centuries and in the past also used as a medicine. Alcohol consumption in Poland and in the entire world has gradually increased, which is also nowadays accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the amount of alcohol consumed in Poland was 11.7 l per capita, which was a the highest level since 1961. It is estimated that global alcohol consumption will increase by 17% by the year 2030. There is also increasing alcohol consumption by children and adolescents, as well as pregnant women. Alcohol consumption as a health damaging factor is not always recognized in the general population. Additionally, numerous scientific societies in their guidelines/recommendations indicate that moderate doses of alcohol are beneficial or at least neutral for health. The question remains whether so-called "moderate doses of alcohol" really are not harmful to health. We analyze this issue in this article.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; health; risk of death.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alcohol consumption (100%) in adult population (15+) for Poland in 1961-2020. Based on: https://data.oecd.org/healthrisk/alcohol-consumption.htm and https://www.oecd.org/poland/Preventing-Harmful-Alcohol-Use-Key-Findings-POLAND.pdf
Figure 2
Figure 2
World alcohol consumption in 1990 and 2017 and forecasts until 2030. Based on [6]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Abstinence, active and occasional alcohol consumption in the world in 1990 and 2017, and forecasts until 2030. Based on [6]
Figure 4
Figure 4
The impact of alcohol consumption on the risk of premature death [24]
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of alcohol consumption (compared to occasional alcohol users) on the risk of premature death [25]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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